Access to Indoor Net Lanes

I can now hire the indoor nets at the Herts Sports Village in Hatfield at a rate of £14 per hour off-peak. Off-peak times are 6.30am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday and 5.00pm to 7.00pm Saturday and Sunday. (Peak time access is £24 per hour.) The nets get very busy after Christmas but anyone wanting one-to-ones before Christmas might want to take advantage of this to reduce the total cost of lessons.

New website, new season, new bat

If you're coming back to the site as a regular, you'll have noticed that I've changed the styling to make it all a bit easier to read and navigate. Over the next couple of months I'll be updating some of the content as well. Any feedback is gratefully received.

The new season is just hours away and my first outdoor training session was last night. Whilst not quite the disaster I thought it might be, my eyesight isn't what it used to be and picking the ball up in the gloom of an April evening is a bit tricky. Still, it gave me a chance to try out my new bat. I found the middle twice and seemed to hit the rest off the toe end of the bat. I suppose the bat will work if I use it properly. Fielding practice was hard work too, what with the bumpy outfield - no rain to speak of since February has meant the groundsman hasn't been able to fertilize the grass - and the dark skies.

It highlights the vast difference between the indoor training we do in ideal conditions and the switch outside in April, just before the first weekend of matches. It's why I am trying to set up some outdoor training days for the Area boys but only have only day arranged to date, where three age groups will train. Redbourn CC has a day arranged for their U12s which will definitely help them get the season up and running.

I've got no pretentions that my own season will see stacks of runs coming my way. Age has caught up with me and my motivation has switched to hoping that the young cricketers in the team can score the runs we need and not have to rely on the oldies. If they need me, they might be sorely disappointed.

Video Analysis Zone Now Available

The PW Cricket Online Video Analysis Zone is live and available to anyone who wants access to easy to use Video Analysis software at an affordable price. The Zone works a bit like a Facebook come Youtube come MySpace area, where you can upload video clips of your play to a private area of the PW Cricket Zone, which I have bought from Silicon Coach, and then make use of the easy to use embedded software to analyse how you're performing. You can keep everything totally private or you can choose to make the clips public. Or you can choose to discuss the clips with one or more members within the PW Cricket Zone.

For more information, and costs, see the specific Video Analysis page on the website. Access to the PW Cricket Zone starts from £4 per month, including VAT and administration charges, with various discounts available.

I am now well into the programme for the East Area Excellence Training Programme, with all age groups training well and standards improving all around. Hopefully the boys involved can see the improvemnts themselves and can carry them through to their club matches and training before the Area games start in May.

Finally, the new Chance to Shine fund for the East (South) Cricket Development Group, covering the Hertford and Ware and A10 School Sports Partnership schools starts life on Monday 28th February, with me as lead coach. It's a great opportunity to take cricket into schools where cricket is not otherwise available and by starting now, we have the opportunity to get the awareness and enthusiasm raised prior to the cricket season starting. All we need now is for the England cricket team to follow up the Ashes success with a first World Cup win.

For more information about Video Analysis, or to book a One 2 One including video analysis, contact me on 07981 838115, or paul@pwcricket.co.uk